Born in 1920 in Gippsland, Victoria, Mr Jenkins has described his cycling career as his main claim to fame.

His passion for cycling was obvious from a young age. Mr Jenkins was the track cycling champion of the Hawthorn Amateur Cycling Club in 1940, the Frankston Professional Cycling Club in 1950 and the Shepparton Professional Cycling Club in 1954 before he came to Lightning Ridge in 1969 with his wife Gwen and his son Raymond.

He mined for opal with Robbie Robinson at a claim called “Ladybird” on the Three Mile opal field. Mr Jenkins mined at several different locations with other partners as well. He said he eventually gave it away because the rules, regulations and charges were so prohibitive for the small miner.

Mr Jenkins has also been heavily involved in community life serving as the secretary/treasurer of the Lightning Ridge Miner’s Association for many years. He served two terms as the president of the Lightning Ridge Tourist Association and acted as the Walgett Shire’s delegate for the now defunct North West Tourist Association.

It was during his time as president of the Lightning Ridge Tourist Association that the first TV commercial about the Ridge went to air.

“People thought I was mad because it was so expensive but we got the money easily enough and away we went,” he said.

Mr Jenkins said the TV advertising, which caused tourism to start to boom in Lightning Ridge, was such a success largely because of Lea Tishler’s salesmanship.

“She was the best saleswoman we ever had,” he said.

In the early 1980s Mr Jenkins produced his own guide booklet for tourists visiting Lightning Ridge.

As a result of its success he was later employed by the Walgett Shire Council to produce the first guide booklet of the Walgett Shire and Lightning Ridge Opal Fields for tourists.

Against the advice of his doctor Mr Jenkins took up cycling again at the age of 70 in 1990 and competed in the Masters Games in NSW, Queensland, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Victoria, where he won 13 gold, 13 silver and three bronze medals.

Mr Jenkins said he and his wife really enjoyed operating the Kangaroo Tourist Complex.

“It keeps us in touch with people, which we like,” he said, “and we’ve made a lot of friends through it.”

Mr Jenkins celebrated his 90th birthday with family and friends at the bowling club last night.